


On the 11th Hour of Christmas

by loveyoutoobits (lostflares)



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Christmas, F/M, I'm new to this still, Snowed In, but in my defense, but uuuhhh, its not angst if it works out in the end, realized i should tag all the characters actually with lines, tagging characters is not a strong suit of mine, thats the only way i couldve written this fic, there may or may not be some projection on the parts of our dear californians
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-24
Updated: 2017-12-24
Packaged: 2019-02-19 18:41:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,376
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13129716
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lostflares/pseuds/loveyoutoobits
Summary: Chowder and Caitlin are going home for winter break, a week before Christmas. Too bad the East Coast had other ideas.





	On the 11th Hour of Christmas

**Author's Note:**

  * For [veritashopian](https://archiveofourown.org/users/veritashopian/gifts).



> You know, being from California and going to an East coast college and knowing exactly how annoying flying home when there's snow involved can be should've made this fic really easy to write. Unfortunately, having 6 written finals just sapped all the creativity out of me and it took me forever to even come up with the idea. And then it took me even longer to execute the idea. If the beginning seems kinda terrible compared to the ending, it just means I came up with a really good idea to end the fic that I could figure out how to execute a hell of a lot better than the beginning, even if what happens in the beginning is actually things I've partly experienced (ie cancelled trains, delayed planes, ubers to the airport, etc).

Chowder woke up to snow falling outside his window. He sat up slowly, careful not to disturb Caitlin as she continued to sleep. He watched the snow fall for awhile, a content smile on his face. California never gets a white Christmas, so every time it snowed in December was like Christmas to Chowder. 

“Chris? What’s up?” Caitlin sat up, resting her chin on Chowder’s shoulder, eyes still closed. She blinked them open slowly, glancing first at Chowder, than following his eyes to the window. “Ooh it’s so pretty! Snow in December, like our own white Christmas right before we leave.”

She kissed him on the cheek before standing up, stretching. Chowder sat awhile longer before turning away from the window just to look at her. Snow may be pretty, but she was beautiful. He mentally pinched himself for the umpteenth time, to remind himself he wasn’t dreaming and Caitlin was really his. And he was really hers.

“Do you think Eric has already started on breakfast?” Caitlin pulled open her phone, checking the time. Their train wasn’t until later, and their flight not for awhile after that, so there wasn’t a pressing time concern, even with the snow falling.

Chowder paused to sniff the air. He hadn’t noticed when he had woken up, but the smell of bacon was already permeating the upstairs. He could hear Ransom and Holster stirring, with the distant shout of “Bacon!” trailing down from the attic.

“I think that would be a yes,” he laughed. He waited for Caitlin to get ready, content to go down together. She finished and held out her hand to Chowder, and he took it, standing up without looking away from her, sharing a soft kiss as he stood up fully.

They walked down the stairs hand in hand, and for once Chowder didn’t let go when they entered the kitchen. What’s a little fine when the two of them were leaving that day?

“Yo Chowder FINE!!” Ransom called out as the two of them entered, and Chowder simply forked over the two bucks without relinquishing his hold on Caitlin’s hand. Bitty wordlessly put down two plates for them with a smile, shaking his head at Ransom.

The six residents of the Haus ate breakfast in comfortable silence. Most of them would be leaving not long after Chowder and Caitlin left, so this was one of the last moments they’d see each other before they all came back for the first game of the new year.

All during breakfast, the snow fell harder. Chowder didn’t think anything of it. After all, their flight wasn’t for another few hours, and the snow was likely to stop by then. Only delay would probably be having to wait for them to de-ice the plane. Caitlin kept checking her phone for something, but Chowder didn’t make a connection until she squeezed his hand and looked at him in worry.

“Chris, our train just got cancelled.”

“That’s fine, we’ll just get an uber or something,” he said quickly. “That way we can leave later, possibly when the roads have been cleared.” There was nothing that could ruin this holiday for them, and he was trying to remain endlessly positive. Caitlin had a tendency to worry about every little detail, so Chowder had to do the opposite. It tended to work, and in this case, her death grip on his hand relaxed, and she kissed him on the cheek.

“Thanks babe. What would I do without you?” She went back to eating breakfast, and Chowder dared anyone to fine them for it. Luckily, they seemed to realize the situation, and let it slide for once.

* * *

Around the time their train would have left, the snow hadn’t stopped. Chowder’s attempt at remaining positive was slowly falling as the snow on the ground rose. It got to the point where they couldn’t open the door without a little bit of snow falling in, and so they stopped opening the door. Until the snow stopped, no one was going home.

By the time they would’ve had to order an uber, their flight was delayed, then cancelled. Chowder’s positivity disappeared along with their ability to go home for the holidays. His mind began to spiral, starting with how they couldn’t go home today, and ending with they wouldn’t be able to go home at all. And eventually thinking how, if he had gone to college in California like his parents had wanted him to, none of this would have happened, and the idea that he would miss Christmas wouldn’t even be a possibility.

Caitlin joined Chowder on the couch and placed her hand on his. Chowder turned his head to look at her, matching her eyes. Not for the first time he thought about how pretty they were, pacific ocean blue. He thought about how lucky he was to have her, and instantly his spiraling mind quieted down. If he had listened to his parents and stayed in California, he never would have met Caitlin. And that made everything worth it. Just like how he could quiet her worry, she could quiet his insecurities.

They fell asleep on the couch, wrapped together, the stress caused by their plans getting cancelled tiring them out to the point of exhaustion. When they woke up, somehow Christmas had appeared in the Haus. Lights were strung up around the walls of the room, and they wrapped around a tree in the corner. 

Chowder stared at the tree, which still had snow dusting its branches, for a few seconds before looking out the window. The snow had stopped, he could tell based off the street light outside. Somehow the other guys had gone out and got a tree to put up in the living room where they had been sleeping.

“Oh it’s so beautiful! How did they do this?” Caitlin clutched at Chowder’s arm, as if he had had anything to do with it. He could only shake his head. His team did this for him and his girlfriend. 

It might seem irrational to stress about not being able to go home, but the guys knew that this flight was probably the only one they could’ve gotten a week before Christmas without issue. They might not be able to get a flight home at all. Of course, Chowder would still try, but for now, he’ll enjoy the kindness of his friends.

“I should go find them to thank them.” He untangled himself from Caitlin regrettably, and went to find Bitty. If anyone had suggested doing this, it would be him. He entered the kitchen, but no one was there.

“Bitty? Lardo? Guys?” He called out, but the empty Haus answered back. Chowder glanced at the table and noticed a note in Bitty’s handwriting. All it said was  _ enjoy this Christmas present from us to you -ERB. _ He smiled to himself, walking back into the living room, looking up at Caitlin as he entered.

“Hey Cait, look at this note from Bitty-- what’s wrong?” He stopped when he noticed tears in her eyes. It took a second for him to realize they weren’t sad tears. She was holding a gift, wrapped neatly in Christmas paper. Chowder looked back at the tree, and saw a few more.

“Chris… they got us Christmas. There’s a note on the tree with instructions to open the presents whenever we want, since they know we don’t know when or… if we’ll be able to go home.” She held the present out to Chowder, and he could read the tag addressed to Caitlin from the Haus.

He wordlessly handed over the note he had found, and Caitlin’s tears began to fall again. Chowder gently removed the note and the gift from her hands, and placed her hands in his. He brought their joined hands up and wiped away her tears, before closing the distance between them, sealing it with a soft kiss.

Illuminated by the glow of the Christmas lights, the scent of the tree spreading around the room, they stood there basking in the love of their friends. Even if they couldn’t get a flight home in time for Christmas, Chowder thought this Christmas was just as good. The best gift he could’ve ever hoped for.

**Author's Note:**

> As always, let me know in the comments or through kudos or on [tumblr](http://loveyoutoobits.tumblr.com/) if you liked the fic!
> 
> Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and a Happy New Year!!


End file.
